


The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face

by Baroness_Blixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Baby Fic, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 23:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14903807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/pseuds/Baroness_Blixen
Summary: Mulder tells his daughter about the first time he saw Scully.





	The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face

“Daddy, tell me a story.” It’s late. Way too late. Katie should have been in bed an hour ago. Two hours ago, really. Now she sits there cuddled up in her Star Wars pajamas and sheets, her hands folded in front of her like a grown up. Her expression is expectant, demanding. 

“You need to sleep, kiddo.” And he needs to do laundry. Somehow they lost track of time today. He did, anyway. 

“Can’t sleep without a story, daddy.”

“Not tonight, Katie.” He glances at her with the laundry basket in hand. Big mistake. He should have known. His daughter is pouting, her lower lip quivering dangerously. Any moment now she is going to cry. Her big, blue eyes are wet with unshed tears. She’s got him. 

“One story,” he says and Katie cheers, “a very short one.” She nods enthusiastically. “So, what are you in the mood for?” Mulder sits down on the bed, leaves the laundry basket at his feet. 

“A story with mommy in it.” Mulder nods. It’s been two days without Scully and both he and Katie are missing her. A lot. As much as he wanted to tell her not to attend the medical conference in Chicago, he knew he couldn’t do it. It’s her job. A job she loves. But it has been years since they’ve been apart, even if just for a few days. For Katie it’s the first time without her mom at home. 

“Hmmm, let me think.” Mulder touches his chin, scratches it and pretends to be deep in thought. Katie giggles and claps her hands in excitement. More than half his life with Scully by his side and now he feels like he can’t remember a single thing, a simple story. Their lives are so entangled; the truth, their quest, their work. Their love, their son and their daughter. He glances at her now; she and Jackson are their greatest accomplishments, the most treasured moments they’ve ever experienced. Some of the saddest, most devastating at well. Those have no place here tonight.

“Daddy, you said I need to sleep. Tell me a story now.” Mulder smiles. She’s impatient, his daughter. He watches her as her curious eyes search his face. Her chin is as stubborn as his own, just like her hair. At least she’s got Scully’s coloring. For now, anyway. It’s been growing darker lately, turning to the color of autumn leaves. 

“I’m trying to think of a good one.” Where to begin? He wonders. Katie stares at him and blinks. Mulder sees so much of Scully in her and he’s so grateful. For everything. But where to begin? As his daughter smiles at him, he suddenly knows. 

“Have I ever told you about the first time I saw your mom?” Katie shakes her head. She puts her head on her pillow, her hand under her chin. 

“Well, listen up, Katie girl. Once upon a time-”

“Daddy! No fairy tale." 

"Fine. So not once upon a time. A few years ago,” Katie rolls her eyes, “in a galaxy far, far away,” now she giggles, “I met the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. But that was not what I saw at first. Your mom… she just walked into my office and took over my whole life. She shook my hand and smiled at me,” Mulder touches Katie’s warm, rosy cheek, “she was smiling just like you.”

“I didn’t want her to be there. I wasn’t looking for a partner or even a friend.”

“You didn’t like mommy?" 

"Oh, I did. But I didn’t want to. Remember the group project you had to do for school a couple of weeks ago?” Katie groans and buries her head in her pillow. 

“I don’t enjoy group projects,” she says, her voice too serious for her six years. 

“See? That’s how I felt too. I didn’t want to work with anyone, but your mom… remember when I said she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen?” Katie nods. “Your mom has the most wonderful mind.” He gently taps Katie’s forehead. “For the first time someone cared about my ideas and theories. Your mom didn’t always agree with me,” she still doesn’t, he thinks, “but she always listened to me. Had ideas and theories of her own and…” he trails off; one day he will tell Katie everything. The life they’ve had long before she came around. What a miracle she is. Not tonight, though.

“Now don’t tell her I told you this, but your mom is always right. When she says something, you really have to listen to her. She knows everything.” Mulder kisses the last word against his daughter’s temple. He thinks of Scully. Sees her face as it was back then, remembers. He has to smile. They were young. So very, very young. 

“What did mommy think of you?”

“You’ll have to ask her when she gets home tomorrow.” Katie sighs. Her eyes look small now; it’s an effort to keep them open. “Good night, sweet baby.” Mulder leaves another kiss on her forehead and he knows she’ll be asleep in no time. He turns on the small night light, picks up the laundry basket and walks out of the room, but leaves the door ajar. The basket threatens to slip from his hand as he finds himself face to face with Scully.

“Hi,” she says with a bright smile, her voice barely above a whisper.

“You… are not supposed be back yet.”

“Do you want me to leave again?” She raises her eyebrows and Mulder lets go of the laundry basket, all responsibilities forgotten. He puts his arms around her and holds her tightly. He doesn’t intend to let go any time soon.

“I don’t want you to leave ever again. Bu why are here? You said you’d be back tomorrow.”

“The conference ended earlier than we anticipated and so I changed my flight." 

"Without telling me." 

"Oh stop pouting.” Scully kisses his lips softly. “I missed you and Katie. Would you think me a bad mother if I woke her up just to say hello?” Mulder smiles at her sheepishly.

“She uhm, I just-”

“Mulder, I know. I heard you.” She touches his arm and is that… a blush? 

“I didn’t mean to let her stay up this late. We just-” He shrugs. He’s never been good at planning and sticking to time tables. After all this time, Scully knows this, knows him. Her smile tells him so. “You heard what I said?” He hopes to see her blush again. 

“I did. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything.”

“That’s a lot.” Scully nods. She takes his hand and leads him towards their bedroom. His eyes land on the forgotten laundry basket. No one will do laundry tonight.

“So Scully… what did you think of me the first time you saw me?” She looks up at him. There’s that smile again. The same one she gave him on that first day three decades ago. It could have happened yesterday for all he knows. It reminds him that in the end, it was all worth it.

“Patience, Mulder. It’s Katie’s bedtime story so you will have to wait.” She winks at him before she puts her hand on his chest as if needing to feel his heartbeat. “But there’s something you don’t have to wait for.” She kisses him and kicks the door shut behind them.


End file.
